Varenicline improves motor and cognitive symptoms in early Huntington's disease.

The aim of this study was to describe the effects of varenicline, a smoking cessation aid that acts as a nicotinic agonist, on cognitive function in patients with early clinical Huntington's disease (HD) who were current smokers. Three gene-positive patients transitioning to symptomatic HD were evaluated using the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale part I and III (motor and behavioral subscales) at baseline and after 4 weeks of treatment. Cognitive function was assessed using a touch screen computer-based neurocognitive test battery (IntegNeuro®). Varenicline (1 mg twice daily) significantly improved performance in executive function and emotional recognition tasks. Our case reports describe no clinically significant adverse effects and suggest that varenicline improves aspects of cognitive function in patients with early HD. A randomized controlled study is now underway.

The Appointment of a Huntington's Disease Nurse Specialist has Reduced Admission Rate and Improved Admission Quality.

We aimed to determine if the appointment of a Huntington's disease (HD) nurse specialist has influenced inpatient admission rates and admission quality at Auckland Hospital. We collated HD inpatient admission data for the 32 months before and after her appointment and compared the quality of cognition, mood, speech/swallowing and safety assessments between admissions where the nurse was and was not involved. After the appointment of the HD nurse there was a 51% reduction in average monthly HD admission rates (p = 0.0009). HD admissions specifically related to HD decreased by 54% (p = 0.005). There was also an improvement in the quality of admissions.